Various sheet materials, such as stacked tissue products or textile products are typically sold in flat, rectangular-shaped cartons or in upright, cubed-shaped cartons. In order to package the sheet materials, such as facial tissues, various continuous cartoning machines have been developed in the past. Many of these machines, for instance, include moving conveyors in which stacks or “clips” of the sheet material are moved in parallel with a column of cartons. A device is then used to push the clips of sheet material horizontally into the cartons.
For example, for rectangular-shaped cartons, the clips of sheet material are typically loaded into the cartons in a flat configuration. For cubed-shaped cartons, on the other hand, the clips of sheet materials are typically folded and then loaded into the cartons. Once loaded into the cartons, the cartons are then sealed and shipped for purchase and use by consumers.
Because the above described machines load the clips of sheet material horizontally into the cartons, the shape of the cartons are somewhat limited to having a basic box-like shape. Complex-shaped cartons, including cartons having curved surfaces are not well suited for being used in such machines. The machines are simply not configured to process complex shapes, especially at high speeds.
Non-rectangular shaped dispensers or dispensers with a complex shape, however, may provide various benefits and advantages to a manufacturer depending upon the particular product being sold. Such dispensers, for instance, may be considered by consumers to improve the aesthetics of the product, especially facial tissue products where dispensers are sometimes displayed in plain view around a person's home. Irregular-shaped dispensers may also be found appealing and fanciful to children, thus encouraging them to use the product for improving their hygiene habits. Unique and stylistic-shaped dispensers may also allow manufacturers to better differentiate their products from the products of others and to otherwise indicate quality.
In view of the above, a need currently exists for an improved continuous motion packaging system that is capable of packaging clips of a sheet material into a dispenser. More particularly, a need currently exists for a system and process that is capable of loading clips of a sheet material into non-rectangular shaped dispensers, such as dispensers with curved walls or with any other suitable complex shape.